AWF Press Release: Union Puppet Bill on Gov. Culver's Desk
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John Kartch
26 MARCH 2008
202-785-0266
Union-Puppet Bill on Gov. Culver’s Desk
AWF Urges Culver to Veto Forced Negotiations Bill H.F. 2645
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) condemned the recent party line vote in the Iowa State Senate passing H.F. 2645, which if signed by the Governor, will mandate public employee collective bargaining. AWF is urging the Governor to veto this bill.
H.F. 2645 adds several mandatory bargaining items to the teacher quality law and eliminates some provisions that provided a balance between management and labor. AWF policy director Brian Johnson says these changes significantly tilt the playing field in favor of Big Labor unions over average hard working Iowans.
“Forced bargaining laws are nothing more than vehicles used by the union-bosses to hold state budgets hostage,” says Johnson. “By giving one labor group authority to demand an increase on salaries, benefits, and promotions, everyone else has something taken away. If any public official goes on strike and demands more money, guess who will now pay their salary—the taxpayer.”
According to Johnson, the mandated bargaining in H.F. 2645 will result in employers whose wages are set according to the standards of the labor unions and not the free market. “This forced negotiating power will make the employers vulnerable to threats of strikes, which give immense power to union employees at the expense of the employer and the public safety,” adds Johnson.
Currently, 37 states have some form of forced collective bargaining. These deals vary in degree of transparency, from states that allow public access to bargaining sessions like Florida and Alaska, to states with completely closed, backroom sessions such as Delaware and Connecticut.
Much of the concern surrounding mandated bargaining laws is the effect on public safety jobs such as firefighters, police and public safety workers.
“Given that union bosses often encourage and push for strikes over supercilious circumstances to further their own personal agendas, consider the repercussions of an emergency first responder, police or fire strike in your home state, or perhaps even your neighborhood?”
